Putin told a media forum in St. Petersburg on Thursday that although his own name did not figure in the documents, media had sought instead to attribute allegations tohis inner circle under a US-led disinformation campaign.
"Our opponents are above all concerned by the unity and consolidation of the Russian nation. They are attempting to rock us from within, to make us more pliant," he said.
The Panama Papers are a leak of 11.5 million files from the database of the worlds fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The records, which were obtained from an anonymous source last week, contain information on 215,000 offshore entities connected to individuals in more than 200 countries and territories.
The files claimed that cellistSergei Roldugin, Putins long-time friend and godfather to his older daughter, ran a $2billion offshore empire.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"]
Russia's then President Dmitry Medvedev (R) and then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (front) listen to Sergei Roldugin, art director of St. Petersburg House of Music, during an excursion to the house in this picture taken on November 21, 2009. Reuters[/caption]Putin said the Panama Papers founda few ofhis "acquaintances and friends... and scraped up something from there and stuck it together."
The Russian leader saidhe was proud of people like Roldugin,who he said had spent nearly all his earnings on buyingmusical instruments and donating money to state musical institutions.
Panama Papers caused Icelands Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson tostep downafter it was revealed that he and his wife had bought an offshore firm in the British Virgin Islands. The premier, however, denied the charges against him.
By Press TV
